


Queen of Spades

by sansos



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Card Games, Established Relationship, F/M, One Shot, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansos/pseuds/sansos
Summary: It was just a simple game of Hearts —simply just a meaningless round of cards.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru & Reader, Oikawa Tooru/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	Queen of Spades

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not really sure what genre this falls under... You'll find that the relationship between Oikawa and the reader is **quite** open for interpretation
> 
> Rules for the game can be found [here](https://inarizakikoukou.tumblr.com/hearts) if you want the full run down/if you want to play yourself!

Oikawa surveyed the cards he held. _In the hands of another, these cards would probably be terrible_. He chuckled, and rearranged his cards to organize them by suit, moving the crown jewel of the hand dealt over to the very left. A trump card of sorts, but perhaps calling it a dark horse would be more fitting.

He looked over at you, tracing the edge of your silhouette with discerning eyes, a self-serving smile arising when he saw that a childish grin, one that was as soft and as sweet as the lips they decorated, had appeared when you looked at your hand.

His eyes wandered over to Iwaizumi, then Kindaichi, focusing on the changes in each of their expressions —from the slightest of winces to the widest of smiles. Perhaps they thought that they had good hands as well.

He looked down. _After all_ , _all the bad cards are with me._

Because in a game where the loser would be the one playing the highest ranking card in the trick, having so many face cards naturally would tip the scales against your favor.

He pulled out the remaining three clubs in his hand and slid them over to the right towards Iwaizumi. The spiker took the cards into his and turned them over, his eyes widening for a second when he saw the ranks. He looked over at his childhood best friend with a raised eyebrow, in which the setter responded by closing his eyes and drawing his lips together in a sickeningly sweet smile. 

He thanked you as he reached over for the cards you had passed, face down on the table, to him from his left, and welcomed them into his hand.

_The ace of hearts, the king of hearts, and the king of spades. Oh (f/n), you must have been in a hurry to get rid of these_ , he thought with a sly smile as he reorganized his hand. He looked at the product of his efforts and scoffed. _How silly, the King should always be next to the Queen._ He shook his head at his own blunder and quickly moved the King over to the left.

“Oikawa-san, you’re looking happy,” Kindaichi commented with a curious frown. Oikawa looked over, raising two fingers in a victory salute. 

“Just feeling a little lucky this time, that’s all,” he beamed as he rested his chin against his hands, tilting his head as if he was the epitome of innocence. Why, how ironic it was. He glanced over to the scoreboard sitting behind Kindaichi. “Maybe this time we can break this four way tie and end the game,” he hummed with a knowing smile.

“You’re up to something,” Iwaizumi stated with narrowed eyes scrutinizing the man sitting next to him. “You have that gross smile when you’re up to no good on your stupid face.”

Oikawa feigned offence, his free hand clutching loosely at his shirt as he loudly gasped in mock disbelief. “No, no, no!” He deflected, his tone so exaggerated it was near comical. “It’s because I’m next to (f/n)-chan! My lady luck, my love…” He paused as he moved to entwine his fingers with yours, “My Queen!”

Your face instantaneously reddened, and you briskly rushed to detangle your hands from his whilst moving further back. “Stop being so mushy,” you spluttered in embarrassment, your eyes looking straight down at the table with fervent determination to avoid any and all eye contact. Oikawa chuckled as he relaxed back into his chair.

“I just love you,” he sang while you shot him an exasperated look.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. “Who’s got the 2 of clubs?”

“That would be me,” you responded, sliding the card towards the center of the table. Oikawa raised an eyebrow in amusement, hiding his smile behind his cards.

_Let’s give the Queen to my Queen then, shall we?_

“(f/n)-chan’s leading first this time, now isn’t she,” Oikawa teased as he placed down the Queen of Diamonds onto the center of the table.

You looked up at him with widened eyes as Iwaizumi nonchalantly reached out to grab the cards in the trick, having been the one to play the largest card in the suit.

“You don’t have clubs anymore?” You asked, shooting him a questioning look. Oikawa nodded with a happy smile, and leaned in closer towards you from his spot.

“Do you want to check?” He breathed, appearing inches away from your face as you closed your eyes and furiously shook your head. “Hm, what a good girl,” he smirked, leaning back to rest his back against his chair. “Would have been cheating after all,” he chuckled as he reached out to ruffle your bangs. You huffed out and swatted away his hand in annoyance, though your reddened cheeks gave the act away almost instantly.

_You were always so cute._

“Shittykawa, stop flirting and distracting everyone,” Iwaizumi barked. Oikawa looked over to see that his underclassman, who had been watching the scene unfold right before his eyes, had been, well, _petrified_ by your interaction just now.

“My bad, my bad,” Oikawa grinned. “Let’s continue, shall we?” He gestured at Kindaichi, snapping the youth back to his senses. Kindaichi straightened back in his seat as he put down a card, a determined frown etched deeply into his face as if his captain’s brief words had somehow reinvigorated his motivation.

Trick after trick, Oikawa made it a point to play the smallest card, forcing the other three to collect the cards and decide the next leading suit. Discreet glances, hesitant hands, and quiet exhales of relief flooded the atmosphere as the cards quickly deposited one after another with no hearts nor queen of spades in sight.

_It should be coming up soon. The cards in that suit should be exhausted by now._

You let out a loud groan, interrupting the momentary silence that had bloomed from the tension, as you slammed your card onto the table to lead the trick.

The jack of spades.

It was a big rank. Any time the trick is led by a face card, it could be chalked up to either pure desperation or some broader ulterior motive. By now, Oikawa was certain all the remaining cards in the suit laid in his hand and his hand alone, though he was also rather certain you didn’t know that. He’d been quietly watching, surveying, and counting from the side all this time, after all.

_And so it begins._

He waited for Iwaizumi and Kindaichi to lay down their cards. They wouldn’t be winning the trick —they didn’t have anymore spades in their hands. That meant they would be playing the point cards right about…

Now.

The 8 of hearts, followed by the 9 of hearts —whoever won the trick would have to pick up two penalty points. Oikawa raised an eyebrow as a thought crossed his mind. The first time the hearts have been broken, and it was broken twice in a row.

A sly smile crept up as he awaited for your eyes to fall onto him.

_Just as predicted._

He mentally sniggered at the pleading look you shot over at him, almost as if they were begging that, by some miracle, he would have no other choice but to play a rank high enough and take the trick —saving you from the anguish of inching closer to losing the whole game at the cost of his own. A rather tall ask from you if you asked him, considering that only three ranks could beat out a jack after all.

He looked down at the 3 of spades he had kept in his hand for emergencies. He _could_ play it and force the penalty points onto you.

_Oh (f/n),_ he snickered in the back of his mind, _always breaking my heart, now aren’t you?_

He dramatically furrowed his brows in a deep frown as he brought the cards in his left hand up to his face. A loud groan into his right hand then followed up the soap opera-esque act he had put on.

“You’re so horrible, (f/n)-chan!” He whined as he placed down his card. The crown jewel he had been saving for just the right moment —it was time to bring it into play.

The queen of spades: The cursed card that forced half of the total penalty points in the round onto a single player at once.

And with the higher rank, Oikawa was forced to take in all the cards played —including the two hearts from before— and claim 15 penalty points all in a single trick. From the side of his periphery, he noticed your back straighten and your eyes regain the excited shine from earlier on once more.

He shifted in his spot. His expression darkened, his earlier pout contorting into a sinister smirk. He looked behind his junior to glance again at the scoreboard.

_It was all going to plan._

_“_ Trashykawa, that smile on your face is super creepy,” Iwaizumi pointed out with a frown. “Wipe it off.”

You nodded your head in eager agreement, turning over to look at the scoreboard to see what it was that your boyfriend had been staring at. “You’re up to something, aren’t you?” You guessed with your lips drawn tight together. Oikawa shook his head.

“Why do you think so lowly of your boyfriend honestly! Have some more faith in me, (f/n)-chan!” He whimpered exasperatedly, obvious desperation coated heavily atop each word he spoke. “We’re both in the danger zone, and I just ate the Queen,” he continued as he picked up the card and turned it over to show you. “You should be feeling bad for me! Me! My chances of winning might as well be zero!”

You looked back down grumbling at your cards with an incredulous expression, staying so still in the position before muttering a frustrated “fine” and slumping back into your chair. Oikawa let out an empty laugh, lazy eyes resting onto the scores scribbled hastily on the board once more. Cards were religiously shuffled, and a new hand was dealt each round. The math added up; going by probability alone, the game of Hearts was a fair one, as reflected by the scores. 

A close game such as the one they were playing was common, especially when all the players had some experience under their belt. It ultimately left it down to the initial strategy and the ability to pick up on tells that would turn the tables and decide the victor in the end. Points that could be counted by a single hand separated the players in the game, and with things the way they were now, any passerby could see that it would be a battle between Oikawa and you to see who the misfortune of being pushed past the hundred point mark would befall.

Oh, how cruel of fate to pit two starstruck lovers against one another —to reduce two fate-bound soulmates to mere spectators of their own tragedy!

Oikawa licked his lips.

_But it wasn’t as if he was a spectator, now was he?_

Oikawa laid out the ace of hearts, and one by one, the players sequentially laid out cards in the hearts —5, 6, and 7. He smiled. _That leaves the rest of the high ranks in my hands._

“Guess it’s my loss again,” he sighed as he brushed the trick of cards into his growing pile. “I can’t believe my lady luck is working against me!”

You threw him a worried look, and Oikawa ran his slender fingers through his brunet tresses. He knew you had caught on to something —you’ve played enough games with the man to know that he would never play such a big card for no reason.

_The Queen’s so sharp_ , he thought as he slid the king of hearts towards the center of the table to lead the next trick.

And as if it was orchestrated, the 2, 3, and 4 of hearts came out in succession —counterclockwise, from left to right.

Outward disappointment shadowing inner glee —that would probably be the best way to describe his condition, he thought. He laid out the jack of hearts, and in the next trick, the queen of hearts: both of which were met by diamonds, spades, and clubs.

“Oh would you look at that,” he chimed all too happily for someone who had just pocketed the entire suit of penalty points. He picked up the Queen and turned it over to show the other three. “Looks like I collected them _all._ ”

The Cheshire grin adorned by Oikawa’s mouth widened, stretching from ear to ear, as he watched Kindaichi’s eyes rapidly blink in shock while the team’s ace heaved a dejected sigh as he walked over to the board and marked a giant “0” under Oikawa’s name and the other columns with “+26”. He moved his eyes over to you, amused by the transfixed gaze you had on the card in his hands.

“Looks like you lost, (l/n),” Iwaizumi announced as Kindaichi tallied up the points on the score board. With the 26 points slotted to every player’s total thanks to Oikawa’s completed collection of penalty points, you had accumulated just enough to pass 100 and be crowned the title of loser of the game. 

You opened your mouth to protest, probably to complain of your boyfriend’s craftiness Oikawa figured, but was interrupted by the abrupt ringing of the school bell, signifying the end of lunch break.

“Just in time,” Oikawa laughed, tilting his head back as he stood up. “Maybe better luck next time, my Queen,” he purred into your ear. You ignored the growing heat in your face as you lightly smacked him in the shoulder, wordlessly getting up and out of your chair to follow him out the door.

“You’re so mean to me, honestly!” You whined as the two of you strolled out the club room and into the school’s labyrinth of hallways. “Sometimes I really wonder if we’re actually going out,” you huffed. He stopped in his tracks, with you nearly bumping into his back.

_In a game where even the biggest loser can become the biggest winner,_

He turned around to face you, his expression unreadable and eyes darkened.

_It really was just a matter of how you used the Queen._

Oikawa reached out to tuck a lock of your hair behind your ears, leaned back to admire his own handiwork, and then turned back around with a smile to walk down the hallway once more.

**Author's Note:**

> If you didn’t notice, I purposely made it so that Oikawa won using a “terrible” hand to parallel his ability to bring out the best from the team he sets for. I really wanted to highlight how absolutely cunning and clever Oikawa is while simultaneously drawing attention to how well he hides behind the flirty and silly facade he wears when interacting with others. He's such a complex, multi-faceted character and there's so much I want to write about him! 
> 
> As usual, feel free to message me on Tumblr @ [inarizakikoukou](https://inarizakikoukou.tumblr.com/ask) or leave a comment underneath!


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